6 Asking Questions
Learning Outcomes
- Assess your experience with asking questions.
- Recognize the value of asking questions and seeking help.
Seeking Help
Many students believe they are expected to “go it alone” in college and that asking questions or seeking help is a sign of weakness or incompetence. In fact, the opposite is true. If you are seeking help from your support system and asking questions when you have them, then you are engaging as a learner. That is what you should be doing. Questions develop from curiosity and a desire to learn.
You are not supposed to know everything about college or everything being taught in your classes before you take them. If that were the case, you wouldn’t need or want to go to college. Seeking help and asking questions shows a commitment to learning. Asking questions is part of having a growth mindset.
Complete the exercise below to reflect on your question-asking habits.
Activity: Reflect on Your Question-asking Habits
How often do you ask questions in class? How do you feel when you ask questions in class (e.g. confident, nervous)? Reflect on your experience with and beliefs about asking questions in class.
Nervousness about Asking Questions
If you are nervous about asking questions during class, write down your questions. Then, try these strategies:
- Ask your professor after class.
- Follow up with an email to your professor.
- Visit your professor during office hours or set up an appointment with your professor.
Not asking a question can impede, or interfere with, your learning. For example, if you don’t understand an assignment and don’t ask your professor about it, then you will have difficulty completing the assignment and possibility not complete it at all. One of the main jobs of your professors is to answer your questions or to help you figure out the answers to your questions.
Push yourself to formulate and ask questions, especially if it has not been part of your practice as a student in the past.
Looking Ahead
As you progress through the upcoming sections of the book, don’t forget what you have learned in these first six chapters about growth mindset, fears about learning, goals, back-up plans, support systems, and the importance of questions. Remaining mindful of these concepts will help you to resiliently navigate the challenges of the learning process.
